The Newsletter of the Calvert Marine Museum Fossil Club Volum~22 .Number 2 Iun~ 2007 Tapir Tooth Update In the spring Ecphora (Vol. 22, No.1, March 2007), I reported finding a tapir tooth on the beach at Scientist's Cliffs. The tooth was thought to be either a lower 4th premolar or a 1st molar. Because there were bits of bone between the roots of the tooth, it was suggested that a piece of the jaw might still be "out there." On Friday, March 30th, not more than 50 yards from where the single tooth was found, I found a section of lower jaw containing the 2nd and 3rd molars! In addition to these two teeth, an open socket for another tooth was preserved. However, the previously found tooth did not fit into the empty socket. Therefore, there is probably another tooth "out there" somewhere. As both were found as float, it is not yet possible to determine from which Bed/Zone they are derived; however, both the front and back of the jaw section contain undisturbed matrix - hopefully from the Bed in which it was fossilized. As none of the Maryland tapir teeth have been found in situ, an attempt may be made to remove the matrix, and have it analyzed for diatoms, dinoflagellates, and foraminiferans, which would establish where in the cliffs it was originally preserved. We are still looking for molar number one, or even more of the jaw section! Pamela Platt .p Tapir partial lower jaw (right) collected as float from along Calvert Cliffs by Pam Platt. Scan by S. Godfrey. Amazonian tapir pictured below. http://www.ecuador-travel.net/infomammal• tapirJpg CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM www.calvertmarinemuseum.com .. ~'"'\.., , "\)The Ecphora June 2007 Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology Heart-Shaped 90:71-160. ---- Carcharodon megalodon Renz, M. 2002. Megalodon: Hunting the Huntel Tooth PaleoPress, Lehigh Acres, Florida. 159 pp. Stephen Godfrey.p. Pathological Snaggletooth Shark Tooth Walt Johns collected this heart-shaped C. megalodon tooth in Virginia (May 2007). It is shown Pam Platt collected this pathological Hemipristis----.. here in labial view. The scale bar is in centimeters. serra tooth from Calvert Cliffs. Were it not for i perfectly normal and very characteristically shaped Scan by S. Godfrey. root it would have been a challenge to correctly identify this misshapen tooth. Unlike most H. serra This unusual heart-shaped tooth is attributed teeth, this one is nearly symmetrical about its apex, to C. megalodon (obviously, the right side of the and conspicuously stunted vertically. Notice also tooth is incomplete). This tooth is less than 2 inches that as a result of its diminutive height, the bold in vertical height. The only other C. megalodon teeth that are similar are the so-called "Hubbell" teeth • serrations that these teeth usually sport did not form. Scan by S. Godfrey. small heart-shaped teeth from presumed neonate megs from the Pliocene Epoch (see Renz, 2002; page Stephen Godfrey .p. 87). Purdy et. al. (2001; Figure 39a & b) also illustrate similar teeth. This tooth differs from "Hubbell" teeth in that the root is not so deeply excavated, the serrated Manatees' Status May Change edge is more conspicuously curved (convex), and Wildlife Service Considers there is the hint of a cusp. Removing 'Endangered' Reference: Designation Purdy, R. W., V. P. Schneider, S. P. Applegate, J. H. McLellan, R. L. Meyer, and B. H. Slaughter. http://www.washingtollpost.com/wp• 2001. The Neogene sharks, rays, and bony dyn/colltellt/artic1e/2007/04/08/ AR2007040800500.r-• fishes from Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North tml ?referrer=emai larticle Carolina: Geology and Paleontology of the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina, III, Submitted by Doug Alves.p. Club website: htfp://www.calvertmarinemuseum.comlcmmfc/index.html Club email: [email protected] :.;i~ ~B1The,~y Ecphora June 2007 Superb Sperm Whale Teeth Beaked Whale Web Site from Calvert Cliffs Here is a new website designed specifically for aiding in the identification of beaked whales: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/vertlmammalslbeaked whal es/pages/main menu.htm The objective of this website is to serve as a centralized resource for making morphological identifications of beaked whales. These pages include an introduction to the family Ziphiidae, information on beaked whale research, images of skulls and diagnostic characters for each species, links to museum research collections, and some bibliographic references. Information courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. P. Shark-Hat from Somalia Pam Platt collected these sperm whale teeth from Calvert Cliffs. Natural wear and/or erosion towards the crown of these teeth highlight the many layers of cementum so characteristic of sperm whale teeth. It is my understanding that layers of cementum are added to sperm whale teeth throughout life. Scan by S. Godfrey. Stephen Godfrey p. A Somali man carries, two dead sharks to the market near Hamarweyn. Photo: AFP/Getty Image from Tracks Suggest Dinosaurs Could theBBC. Swim Submitted by Yasemin Tulu. P. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6687129 .st m Editor's Comment: As unique as it is, I somehow doubt this man's headdress would be well received at the Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, )ubmitted by Yasemin Tulu P. England (but certainly at the Kentucky Derby). However, if you wore this kind of hat, your horse would be sure to finish first ... Club website: http://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/cmmfc/index.html Club email: [email protected] "The Ecphora June 2007 CMMFC Attends tooth sold for $500. A Mesosaurus brasiliensis skeleton from the Permian of Brazil sold for $1,500• Aurora Fossil Festival An arthritic whale vertebra went for $485. On Sunday, the volunteers were rewarded for For the third year in a row, the CMMFC was their Saturday efforts with an exclusive "hunt" at the well represented at the annual Aurora Fossil Festival PCS mine. About 95 men and women crammed into held over Memorial Day weekend. two buses and headed out to an area of the pit where, Loaded with brochures, banners, and fossil under bright sun and the usual scorching reflective collections, CMMFC members Bruce & Marilyn heat, they "pounded the Pungo" until late afternoon. Hargreaves (right) joined Marc Griffin & Kathy This year the group was allowed to enter an Young (pictured below) to make the 250-mile trek to area that had been newly excavated and presumably the North Carolina town famed for its proximity to "loaded" with "fresh" megs. Long-time PCS Mine the world famous PCS phosphate mine. hunter and American Fossil Federation president George Powell led the participants down the ramp and over six leg-wrenching ridges until they carne to the Promised Land. Unfortunately, a shallow lake blocked the road to gold. But, undeterred, George ordered his throng to build a bridge out of matrix and within a few short hours the group gleefully skipped over the boulders into the Land of Yorktown, Pungo and James City. On Saturday, both couples manned display tables under the canopy of the cavernous "Educational Tent," fielding questions from visitors, some of whom carne from as far away as California to enjoy three days of activities. Young and old admired the collections, asked questions and, in general, enjoyed learning about Miocene fossils from Calvert Cliffs. As in past years, the downtown area projected a festive carnival atmosphere replete with "tooth booths," funnel cake campers and various trinket and gizmo hawkers. One organization erected a 20-foot fully inflated rubber shark to add realism to the event. On Saturday afternoon the Aurora Fossil Museum auctioned off more than 200 items, including a cave bear jaw, mammoth tooth, Patagonia pinecone, giant sloth tooth, a Wyoming Dave Bohaska displays the large~ tortoise, Jurassic horseshoe crab, and Titanothere Carcharodon megalodon that he unearthed at t1. tooth with jaw section. As always, the megs PCS Mine (Lee Creek) phosphate pit on May 27. commanded top price. One 6.5-inch restored meg Photo by Bob Purdy. Club website: http://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/cmmfc/index.html Club email: [email protected] ,~'';;~~ ~;JThe Ecphora June 2007 There, Bruce found a 2 7/8 inch meg and a 2 Tiny "Winged" Lizard ch Mako, both in excellent condition and gleaming with the caramel-colored Yorktown look. Unearthed near the Virginia• But, Catch-of-the-Day honors went to North Carolina Border CMMFC member Dave Bohaska who uncovered a near-5 inch meg while working on a whale skull. He Drs. Nicholas Fraser, Alton Dooley, and describes his find as follows: "I found the Meg Paul Olsen just published on the discovery of the while walking back to retrieve a baleen whale fossilized remains of a tiny gliding reptile from the periotic and surrounding bone; unfortunately I did. Solite Quarry near the Virginia-North Carolina not see the broken whale skull pieces until we were border. The insect-eating lizard-like creature (named leaving the mine, although others tell me there Mecistotrachelos apeoros) lived about 250 million wasn't much of use. (The) tooth is 4 23/32 vertical years ago during the Triassic Period. height, 5 longest side, 4 ~ in. maximum width ... (The) tooth was not in what I consider prime Mecistotrachelos Yorktown matrix, which might explain why I found apeoros ... it, and found it late in the day well after most of the Image from the collectors had entered the area. This is not a personal Virginia Museum record on vertical height; I got a 4 7/8 on 20 January of NaturaL 2001, although the newest tooth is much wider. History. Both teeth are here at the Smithsonian Institution." http://www.vmnh.net/news.cfm ?ID=22 Submitted by Bruce Hargreaves -¢- Submitted by Ralph Eshelman -¢- Captive Shark had 'Virgin Birth' An International Conference on the Scientists have now been able to confirm that female hammerhead sharks can reproduce without Cambrian Explosion - Banff, having sex.